It is purely artificial Republican Bullshit to separate payroll deductions from other taxes. All the taxes go to federal coffers for federal programs.

So your "other side" argument being only about income tax (federal) is nothing more or less than repeating that bogus Republican line.

That bogus Republican line, along with more BullShit about "job creation" and "trickle down economics" is used, and only used to defend tax breaks for rich people which the country cannot afford. Your economic self interest is not to see the economic disaster and chaos that would come from dismantling Medicare and Social Security. Your economic interest is intertwined with the preservation of and and investment in the US government, people and economy in competition with other countries. The GI Bill, the Eisenhower interstate system, TVA, the National Parks system and many other important investments in the future of this country appeared under reasonable, pre-Reagan tax regimes. Reagan's BullShit and the unbridled selfishness of the Baby Boom generation have been this country's down fall.